Exploring Personalized Command Recommendations based on Information Found in Web Documentation

Abstract

Prior work on command recommendations for feature-rich software has relied on data supplied by a large community of users to generate personalized recommendations. In this work, we explore the feasibility of using an alternative data source: web documentation. Specifically, our approach uses QF-Graphs, a previously proposed technique that maps higher-level tasks (i.e., search queries) to commands referenced in online documentation. Our approach uses these command-to-task mappings as an automatically generated plan library, enabling our prototype system to make personalized recommendations for task-relevant commands. Through both offline and online evaluations, we explore potential benefits and drawbacks of this approach.